Free Blood Moon, Original Version (Shifters #1) by Geraldine Allie

Chapter One
                  Nate Jackson refused to give up. The Brotherhood of Wolves wanted answers. Their numbers had dwindled over the years until there were only a few of them left. Now they all looked at Nate to do his part as leader of the pack, and he knew they deserved that and much more.
                  He would find those answers and take care of the problem with his last breath. He had only started to close in on the vampire responsible for so many of his own kind’s demise.
                  Nate knew where he must look; he had received one of the best clues to their whereabouts. Only this time, he would be going alone.  Too many of his brothers had been lost, he could not chance any more lives knowing that as their leader, the burden rested on him.
                  Now here he was sneaking in the shadows of the city alleyways waiting for his target.
                  A vampire slinked past him. The kid was young, a teenager who would never become a man. The stench rolled off of the newborn and met Nate’s senses, the smell was wrenching.
                  Nate waited until the newborn was in front of him before springing from the shadows and shoved a stake through his heart. Just a small cry came from the impaled vampire’s lips. Nate said a quick blessing before sinking back into the shadows to make his way down the street.
                  A young woman hurried down the darkened road as she made her way home from a late shift at the diner. Maxine Lewis was no stranger to the violence that lurked the streets.
                  She could swear there was another set of footsteps echoing behind her own. A couple of times she had turned but she only found the empty street. Maxine picked up her pace feeling as if she were being pursued.
                  Something rose up in Maxine that yelled danger as she broke into a run. She could hear the footsteps behind her. There was no use in calling out for help in the empty streets and stopping at a payphone to call the police would only further her danger.
                  She kicked off her heels and ran through the streets in bare feet as small stones cut at her flesh. She ran with all of her might knowing her life depended on it. It was only when she turned a corner that she was sure her luck had run out. Stepping from the shadows, a man reached out and pulled her to the side of the building. Before she could scream, another man came around the corner, the one that had been pursuing her.
                  Before her eyes, the man that had grabbed her changed into a beast. In a swift movement he was on her pursuer. Fangs protruded from his mouth and his eyes were like fire as beast and monster slashed at one another. Maxine could not move as her eyes watched the battle taking place.
                  The werewolf lunged at the vampire striking the fatal blow as his teeth sunk into the vamp ripping out its throat and shoving its clawed fist into its heart. The vampire shrieked in anguish and fell to the ground bursting into flames.
                  Maxine stood with her eyes fixed on the werewolf with blood dripping from its clawed hand. The beast stepped closer to Maxine just as she was finally able to scream. Taking back his human form, Nate put his hand over Maxine’s mouth and pulled her body in closer to his.
                 
     
     
    Chapter Two
                  Fear surged through her. Maxine would not suffer the same fate she had just witnessed. She bit down on the man’s hand, and at the same time she brought her heel down as hard as she could on his foot. He only flinched.
                  Nate held the woman in a tight grip. As small as she was, the woman had strength. She had bit down on his hand and he could smell the scent of his own blood.
                  As Nate